The ArbitrAtion Council heArd About 230 collective lAbor disputes in the gArment And footweAr industry involving ApproximAtely 98,000 workers in 2012, A 38 percent increAse from 2011, which sAw 161 cAses hAndled, According to the council. Y SAmphy, trAining And communicAtions mAnAger for the council’s ArbitrAtion <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/lAbor-dispute-cAses-rise-in-gArment-footweAr-industry/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

AsiA Forestry MAnAgement, An integrAted plAntAtion-mAnAgement compAny with A focus on cultivAting AquilAriA crAssnA, Aims to become ThAilAnd’s biggest producer of oud oil this yeAr And SoutheAst AsiA’s in five yeArs. The compAny’s plAnt in TrAt province will be expAnded to produce 280 kilogrAms of <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/plAntAtion-mAnAger-Aims-to-be-top-oud-oil-producer/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Workers at the shuttered Yung Wah I and II factories in Kandal province will continue protesting today, despite the government already agreeing to pay them using company funds. Worker Soy Sokchea said yesterday that he and his colleagues would keep demanding benefits and seniority bonuses. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/factory-pay-protest-continues/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Pharmaceutical giant Thai Nakorn Patana plans to invest $30 million over the next two years in a three- to four-star hotel in Phnom Penh, as it hopes to cash in on the lack of big names in the capital’s mid-tier hotels market. For the new 200-room <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/nakorn-plans-to-invest-30mln-in-hotel-in-phnom-penh/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Student volunteers working as part of the government’s land titling scheme are again being accused of refusing to measure land &ndash; this time in Pursat province &ndash; because they say those living there have done so illegally, according to villagers. Villagers in Bakan district said the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/land-titles-denied-villagers-in-pursat-claim/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

While Cambodia seeks to diversify its manufacturing sector and encourage higher-value-added activities, experts say it must be supported by the right mix of government policies. The asia Development Bank (aDB) says that the sharp increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) from $900 million in 2011 to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/manufacturing-to-diversify/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Total fixed assets of Singaporean investment in Cambodia last year reached $82.7 million, a 500 per cent increase from $13.8 million in 2011, data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show. Singaporean entrepreneurs who have already entered the Cambodian market said they expect <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/singapore-investment-up/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

CAMBODIA will hAve direct flights to All ASEAN member stAtes this yeAr in order to promote stronger growth of the tourism sector in the Kingdom, According to the Ministry of Tourism. Minister of Tourism Thong Khon sAid CAmbodiA will become fully connected to the ASEAN region <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/direct-flights-set-for-All-AseAn-this-yeAr/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

IT businesspeople see the potential demand in business software. Ms. Sok Channda, CEO and President of aNaNa Group, tells Business Circle Magazine that because most businesses need to be controlled and managed systematically, demand for software development is experiencing an upward trend, including Point of Sale (POS) systems, inventory management systems, and software <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/the-snap-look-at-software-business/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Four officials from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction accused of land dispute-related corruption were arrested on Monday by the anti-Corruption Unit. an official who declined to be named told the Post yesterday that Sa Reth Boramy, deputy general director of General Department <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/land-officials-rounded-up-in-acu-bust/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Authorities in Stung Treng province hAve confiscAted some 651 pieces of “luxury timber” from three communes in Se SAn district over the pAst week in An ongoing operAtion to crAck down on illegAl logging in the AreA, police sAid. The goods were confiscAted just As A <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/crAckdown-yields-mAjor-timber-hAul/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

About 50 workers At the M&Amp;V mAnufActuring fActory in KAmpong ChhnAng province fAinted yesterdAy morning due to overwork And exhAustion in the fActory’s third fAinting incident this yeAr, officiAls sAid yesterdAy. Noun SAm Ol, Free TrAde Union representAtive At M&Amp;V, sAid thAt the collApse of A <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/overwork-exhAustion-to-blAme-for-mAss-fAinting/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, President Obama’s Chief Trade advisor, will be visiting Cambodia’s Siem Reap province on aug. 30-31 to participate in the 44th aSEaN Economic Ministers’ meetings and the aSEaN-U.S. Business Summit, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/obamas-chief-trade-advisor-to-visit-cambodia-meet-asean-ministers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

INTERNATIONAL FinAnce CorporAtion, the privAte-sector Arm of the WAshington-bAsed World BAnk, hAs invested $US805 million ($770m) in AustrAliAn projects Around the world These projects Are in 24 countries And in sectors rAnging from finAnciAl services to infrAstructure. IFC is An investor in three MAcquArie Group-sponsored infrAstructure <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/ifc-seeks-more-AustrAliAn-pArtnerships-in-emerging-mArkets/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The 10th High Quality Vietnamese Products and Exports trade fair opened yesterday in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh. It has attracted around 150 firms who have  set up 250 booths to display more than 2,000 products, including electronics, consumer goods, stationary, books, construction materials, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/vietnamese-goods-fair-opens-in-phnom-penh/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Danish marine fuel company Go4 Bunker Denmark yesterday launched the first company in Cambodia to supply ship fuel to  vessels traveling through Cambodia’s waters, according to officials. The launch ceremony for the newly established Go4 Bunker Cambodia Co Ltd yesterday was presided over by Danish Princess <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/offshore-refueling-on-the-horizon/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Casinos are first and foremost for protecting Cambodia’s border, not for making money, government lawmakers insisted in parliament yesterday when drilled about their opposition to raising gambling taxes. Seizing on an off-the-cuff comment made by Prime Minister Hun Sen during a speech in august, Finance Minister <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mooted-casino-tax-shot-down-by-ruling-party/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prominent female land activists Tim Sakmony and Yorm Bopha, who have been locked in Prey Sar prison since their arrest in early September, will face court today on charges rights groups say have been fabricated to stop them and others from protesting. Hundreds of the women’s <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/land-activists-targeted-rights-groups-say/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia and the United arab Emirates (UaE) are in talks to promote bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and tourism on Wednesday. In the meeting, both sides discussed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on aviation in order to enable UaE airlines to operate direct flights from <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-uae-set-to-boost-cooperation-in-economics-tourism/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government needs to enforce legislation on protecting the environment, even as it gives away masses of land and resources in concessions, or risk jeopardising its economic future, the UN assistant secretary-general for disaster risk reduction said yesterday. “The most critical impact of disasters today is <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/act-on-environment-un-urges/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>